In industrial vacuum applications, maintaining the cleanliness of the vacuum environment is crucial for ensuring production process stability and product quality. However, in many industrial scenarios, vacuum pumps often operate in the presence of moisture, condensate, or process fluids, which can severely impact the proper functioning of the vacuum system. Therefore, effectively filtering and treating these fluids is crucial for ensuring equipment efficiency and production reliability.
If you're not using a liquid ring pump, there's no doubt that liquid will affect the vacuum pump. You need the help of gas-liquid separator.
How Liquids Harm Vacuum Systems?
1. Liquid intrusion into a vacuum system can cause multiple problems:
① Risk of Mechanical Damage: When a vacuum pump is pumping air, liquid in the environment may be drawn directly into the pump.These liquids can come into contact with precision mechanical components (such as rotors and blades), leading to:
- Corrosion of metal parts (especially in non-stainless steel pump bodies);
- Emulsification of lubricant (lubricating performance decreases by 40% when the water content in the lubricant exceeds 500 ppm in oil-lubricated pumps);
- Liquid slugging (physical damage to bearings and seals caused by transient liquid compression);
② Degraded vacuum performance: Liquid contamination can lead to:
- Decrease in ultimate vacuum (water vapor partial pressure makes it difficult to achieve a vacuum below 23 mbar at 20°C);
- Reduced pumping efficiency (the pumping speed of oil-lubricated pumps may decrease by 30-50%);
③Risk of process contamination (for example, in coating processes, oil-water mixtures can cause pinholes in the film);
2. Specific characteristics of vapor effects
As mentioned earlier, not only the liquid itself, but also the vapors that evaporate under the influence of vacuum can affect the normal operation of the vacuum pump.
- Increase the condensable gas load;
- Re-liquefy during the compression process, forming pump oil emulsions;
- Condensate on cold surfaces, contaminating the working chamber.
In short, water removal is a crucial and essential step in industrial vacuum applications. Installing a gas-liquid separator effectively prevents liquid from entering the vacuum pump, protecting the equipment's normal operation. Furthermore, removing liquid from the vacuum environment helps maintain a stable vacuum level and ensure production efficiency. For water vapour, we can effectively remove it with the help of cooling liquid or chiller. Attention to these details during operation is crucial to ensure the long-term stability of the vacuum pump.
Post time: Aug-25-2025
